Zangibar
/ˈzæn.ɡɪ.bɑːr/noun
An obsolete English variant spelling of Zanzibar, the East African island and historical sultanate.
Did you know?The name preserves the Arabic ethnonym Zanj, historically used for Bantu-speaking peoples of the East African coast, while the second element reflects Persian geographical naming.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient period
Persian
zang
“Black; historically associated with peoples of sub-Saharan Africa”
Early medieval period
Arabic
Zanj
“A term used by Arabic writers for Black peoples, especially those of the East African coast”
Medieval Arabic-Persian usage
Arabic/Persian
Zanjibar
“The coast or land of the Zanj”
16th Century
Portuguese
Zanguebar
“A European rendering of the East African coastal region”
17th–19th Century
English
Zangibar
“An obsolete English spelling of Zanzibar”
Modern English
English
Zanzibar
“An island and semi-autonomous region of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean”